Brian James O'Connell

Bio

Brian James O'Connell is a working actor, writer, director, filmmaker and improviser in Los Angeles. 

Brian is a graduate of the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts (David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, Jody Hill, Ben Best, Peter Hedges, Mary-Louise Parker, Tom Hulce, Terrence Mann, Chris Parnell, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Jeff Nichols) and moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to follow his dreams of a career in filmmaking.

His first feature film as writer/director, KILLER VIEW, was purchased in 2006 by Fabrication Films/Grindstone Entertainment. KILLER VIEW is the first feature film in history to be shot exclusively on a disposable video camera.

Brian was also the Director of the 35mm feature length comedy, ANGRY WHITE MAN (Matt Berry, Mary Birdsong, Steve Agee) which recently premiered at the 2011 Hollywood Film Festival and is currently seeking distribution (angrymanmovie.com).  

Brian is in post-production as Director of the animated comedy series ZOMBIE GRANDMA starring Guillermo Diaz (read Guillermo talk about ZOMBIE GRANDMA here.)

Brian (or BOC as his friends call him) is now deep in development on his next feature directing gig, MIDDLE SEAT, which is expected to begin shooting in the Fall of 2012.

Brian has been with the iOWest Theater since March of 2003. Invited by a friend from college to see her improv troupe, Tigerpants, Brian had never before seen nor heard of long form improvisation. The show was so good; Brian can still recite 70% of it from memory. Brian was in Level One a few weeks later.

A regular performer and coach at the iOWest Theater in Los Angeles, Brian derives most of his approach to improv from The Deconstruction, the form created by iO's legendary team, The Family (Miles Stroth, Neil Flynn, Ian Roberts, Matt Besser, Adam McKay, Ali Faranahkian, and Pete Hulne).

With his internationally touring improv duo Billyhawk and iOWest's legendary improv group Dr. God, Brian has performed in festivals in Denver, Phoenix, Toronto, Philadelphia, Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chapel Hill, NC. Well-respected as one of Los Angeles's premier improvisers, Brian is famous for his encyclopedic knowledge of minutiae and his insane recall ability and memory.

Brian can be seen performing at iOWest currently with Dr. God, EXTRA STRENGTH, garguilO’connell, and, of course, Tigerpants. (Check out the videos page on this site to see performances by any of these groups).

Upon completing his studies and receiving his BFA in Film Editing from the North Carolina School of the Arts, Brian became the first-ever former student hired by the SOF to oversee the school’s production department as Production Coordinator.

At the ripe age of twenty-one, Brian oversaw 600 film and video productions a year and 250 undergraduate and post-graduate filmmakers. Brian reported directly to Dean Sam Grogg (Academy Award-winning KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN) and then later to Dean Dale Pollock (THE MIGHTY QUINN with Denzel Washington, HOUSE OF CARDS with Tommy Lee Jones, and SET IT OFF with Queen Latifah.)

A member of the Screen Actors Guild, Brian’s on-screen credits include the festival favorites THE GIRLS’ ROOM (with Soleil Moon Frye and Wil Wheaton), RED DIRT RISING, and in the internet television series, Mr. Wrong and MODEL BALL.

Brian looks forward to working with you. When are you free?